The patient, as the person who experiences the disease first-hand, has the most direct and accurate experience of the pain of the disease and the most accurate need for health products. Although there is a vast array of technological means to combat disease and maintain health, the human burden of disease has not been reduced and the health needs of patients have not been fully met. Therefore, "patient-focused drug development" is imperative. Gathering comprehensive information from patients through multiple channels and incorporating this information into the entire drug development process can help ensure that patients’ experiences, perspectives, needs and priorities are taken into account and valued. This article will introduce the concept, development process and the specific problems it faces in patient-focused drug development.
bjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and limits of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in tumor treatment. MethodsThe references about the application of HIFU in tumor treatment in recent years were reviewed.ResultsHIFU caused localized hyperthermia at predictable depth in a few seconds to make the tumor tissue coagulative necrosis without injuring surrounding tissue. HIFU treatment had the advantages of low morbidity, noninvasiveness, avoidance of systemic side effects, and repeatitiveness. However, the utilization of HIFU sometimes could be limited by some factors such as imaging technique, organ movement, incomplete tissue destruction, etc.ConclusionHIFU is a promising noninvasive therapy for tumor treatment, though there are lots of problems to be further studied.
ObjectiveTo explore the effectiveness and safety of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, so as to provide references for its clinical application. MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2013), CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were systematically searched up to November 2013 for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs) about HIFU in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. According to inclusion and exclusion criteria, two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0. ResultsA total of 23 studies (19 RCTs and 4 CCTs) were included, of which 14 studies reported safety. The results of meta-analysis showed that:survival rates at the 6th month and the 12th month, overall efficacy and clinical benefit rate in the HIFU plus radiation and chemotherapy group were significantly higher than those in groups treated with three dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) (P < 0.05), gemcitabine (GEM) (P < 0.05), GEM plus cisplatin (DDP) (P < 0.05), and GEM plus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (P < 0.05). The adverse effects (mainly including skin damage and fever) in the HIFU plus radiation and chemotherapy group was similar to those in the control group with no significant difference (P > 0.05). ConclusionCurrent evidence suggests that HIFU plus radiation and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer is superior to other therapies with less adverse reaction. However, the poor quality of the included studies reduces the reliability of outcome to some extent. Thus, it is necessary to regulate and unify the criteria of diagnosis and outcome measures in the treatment of pancreatic cancer and improve the quality of study design and implementation in clinical studies, so as to provide high quality evidence for its clinical application.
Numerical simulation is one of the most significant methods to predict the temperature distribution in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy. In this study, the adopted numerical simulation was used based on a transcranial ultrasound therapy model taking a human skull as a reference. The approximation of the Westervelt formula and the Pennes bio-heat conduction equation were applied to the simulation of the transcranial temperature distribution. According to the temperature distribution and the Time Reversal theory, the position of the treatable focal region was corrected and the hot spot existing in the skull was eliminated. Furthermore, the influence of the exposure time, input power and the distance between transducer and skull on the temperature distribution was analyzed. The results showed that the position of the focal region could be corrected and the hot spot was eliminated using the Time Reversal theory without affecting the focus. The focal region above 60℃ could be formed at the superficial tissue located from the skull of 20 mm using the hot spot elimination method and the volume of the focal region increases with the exposure time and the input power in a nonlinear form. When the same volume of the focal region was obtained, the more power was inputted, the less the exposure time was needed. Moreover, the volume of the focal region was influenced by the distance between the transducer and the skull.
ObjectiveTo explore the application value of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.MethodThe domestic and foreign literatures about studies of HIFU treating advanced pancreatic cancer in recent years were retrieved and summarized.ResultsHIFU could prolong the survival time, control pain, and enhance the body’s immune function in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. There were no obvious serious complications during the treatment process. The combined treatment with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and traditional Chinese medicine could obviously prolong the survival time and improve the quality of life for the patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.ConclusionsHIFU is an important component in the comprehensive treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. However, because there is no uniform standard for the dosage of HIFU treatment, the sample size of many related studies is small, so the research results have certain limitations, so more studies are needed to improve their understanding of advanced pancreatic cancer in order to better serve clinical workin future.
Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is an emerging therapeutic ultrasound modality that integrates the precise localization capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging with the non-invasive therapeutic properties of focused ultrasound (FUS). This technology enables accurate targeting of deep brain structures and facilitates the treatment of various central nervous system disorders, including essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, and chronic neuropathic pain, through mechanisms such as ablation of diseased tissue, modulation of neural activity, and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. However, its efficacy and safety in the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) remain subjects of ongoing research. Consequently, MRgFUS is under investigation to ascertain its effectiveness and safety profile for treating DRE. This review aims to summarize the current progress in the application of MRgFUS for DRE therapy.
Focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (FLIPUS), as a non-invasive physical therapy, is widely used in orthopedics, neurosurgery, urology, rehabilitation medicine and other clinical specialties. More and more studies have found that FLIPUS can treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by promoting tissue regeneration, relieving pain and inhibiting inflammation, improve the common clinical symptoms of KOA, such as joint pain or stiffness, limited joint activity and decreased walking function, and improve the quality of life of patients to a certain extent. This article mainly reviews the effect and biophysical mechanism of FLIPUS in the treatment of KOA, as well as related clinical research, in order to provide a reference for clinical workers who carry out research in this field.
Objective To analysis the safety of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of uterine fibroids and provide references for clinical practice and prevention of complications of gynecological diseases. Methods Databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2016), EMbase, CBM, CNKI, and VIP were searched to collect studies concerning the complications of HIFU for uterine fibroids from March 1st 2005 to February 15th 2016. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using R software. Results A total of twenty studies involving 2 405 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that complications rate of gynecological system induced by HIFU was 6.63% (95%CI 3.58% to 12.28%); among them, the incidence of vaginal bleeding was 5.82% (95%CI 3.22% to 10.53%), and the incidence of abdominal pain was 10.02% (95%CI 4.77% to 21.05%). Conclusion The current evidence shows that there is a certain amount of complications of HIFU for uterine fibroids. Due to the limited quantity and quality of included studies, the above results are needed to be validated by more studies.
ObjectivesTo systematically review the safety and effectiveness of uterine artery embolization (UAE), surgery and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the treatment of uterine fibroids.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect relevant studies on comparing the safety and effectiveness of UAE, surgery and HIFU in the treatment of uterine fibroids from January 2000 to August 2019. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted the data and evaluated the risk of bias of included studies, network meta-analysis was performed by ADDIS 1.16.8 software and Stata 14.0 software.ResultsA total of 11 trials (22 references) involving 3469 patients were included. Compared with surgery, UAE and HIFU patients had higher quality of life (1-year follow-up) improvement, and UAE was higher than HIFU. Network meta-analysis showed that patients treated with HIFU had the lowest incidence of major complications within 1 year, followed by UAE, and surgery. Patients treated with HIFU and UAE had shorter hospitalization and quicker recovery time than surgery. The rate of further intervention after surgery treatment might be lower than that of UAE and HIFU.ConclusionsUAE has the highest quality of life improvement (1-year follow-up) for uterine fibroids. HIFU and UAE are safer with shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery time compared with surgery. However, both UAE and HIFU have the risk of re-treatment. However, limited by the number and quality of included studies, the above conclusions are needed to be verified by more high-quality studies.
A miniaturized, low-cost high-intensity focused ultrasound device is developed for the problems of cross-contamination and uneven sample fragmentation in conventional ultrasound devices. This device generates ultrasonic waves through a concave spherical self-focusing piezoelectric ceramic piece, and creates a cavitation effect in the focusing area to achieve sample fragmentation. The feasibility of the device is demonstrated by physical simulation, then a driving circuit with adjustable power is designed and manufactured to generate 0 ~ 22.4 W acoustic power, and finally paraffin-embedded sample dewaxing experiments are performed to verify the validation of the device. The experimental results show that the dewaxing efficiency and safety of the high-intensity focused ultrasound device is significantly better than those of traditional chemical methods, and this device is comparable with commercial ultrasonic instruments. In summary, the high-intensity focused ultrasound device is expected to be applied in automated nucleic acid extraction and purification equipment and has a broad application prospect in the field of sample pre-processing.